This year marks the first time that two UK universities have held the top spots in the rankings' history. Cambridge has risen two places from its position in the 2017 edition, in which it occupied fourth place. 

The top ten are:

1. University of Oxford (UK)
2. University of Cambridge (UK)
=3. California Institute of Technology (USA)
=3. Stanford University (USA)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
6. Harvard University (USA)
7. Princeton University (USA)
8. Imperial College London (UK)
9. University of Chicago (USA)
=10. ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)
=10. University of Pennsylvania (USA)

The Times Higher Education (THE) world rankings are compiled by judging 1,000 universities on their teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Find out more on the THE World University Rankings website